The Worst Disease
by Marifw
Summary: A case is affecting the whole team, but in particularly two. Can they manage to solve it and stay sane? Slash: Nick/Greg. Don't like; don't read! Rated due to mention of violence and language. Beta'd by katlynn888.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Grissom looked down on the four bodies in front of him. Two men, a small girl and a younger boy had been brutally murdered. From the looks of it, the girl was related to the blond man, while the boy was related to the brunet.

He turned to look at his co-workers who were standing beside him. Catherine was next to him, her eyes where wet and she couldn't stop shaking her head. Beside her, he could see Nick, his jaw set so tight you could hear teeth rubbing; his eyes were narrow and almost black. Greg was the last one there, he looked ready to faint. All the blood had gone from his face and his eyes were big and sad. Grissom looked down at the bodies again and sighed, he knew this would be a long night.

The supervisor turned when he heard someone talking at the opening of the alley. The coroner, David Phillips was walking against them. This event made him snap out of his thoughts and start giving out assignments.

"Catherine, process the two bodies on the left, I'll take the two others. Nick and Greg, you take the perimeter; Nick from the bodies and out towards the street. Greg, you've got dumpster-diving. Check out the dumpsters up against the wall at the end and everything between the bodies and there."

They all nodded, not even Greg gave a remark to his job; he had known this would be assigned him from the minute he had seen the scene. He was the youngest, and even though he had made CSI level 2 now, he was still outranked by all his co-workers. Today, he didn't care. As long as he didn't have to process the bodies; he was content.

--

David was on the ground, taking the liver-temp on the blond man. According to his readings the bodies had died at approximately the same time; about four to five hours ago, placing the TOD to around seven pm. The young coroner raised himself and addressed the CSI's.

"As far as I can see; the children were both killed rather quickly. The boy has a knife-wound through his torso, and the girl's throat was slit. The men were probably tortured before they died; you can see multiple shallow slashes over their abdomens and chests. I can't say anything certain before the autopsy; but I believe they died from loss of blood. They have also been beaten pretty badly, and by the looks of it they were restrained; you can see the marks on their hands. Let me know when I can take them to the morgue."

"Thanks David. I'll let you know as soon as we're done with the bodies."

Grissom and Catherine went to work and started photographing the bodies. When they turned the men they found wallets in their back-pockets. They handed their findings to Brass who had joined them. The detective opened them to look for ID's.

"Well, it's not a mugging, that's for sure; there's got to be at least a couple of hundred bucks here. The blond man is named Graham Knox-Johnson, age 34, from San Francisco. The brunet is Steven Knox-Johnson, age 33, also from San Francisco. Hmm, tourists, probably relatives; though they don't look much alike."

Catherine looked closer at the two men; there was nothing that suggested that the men were brothers, but of course one could be adopted.

--

Greg was working in the proximity of the bodies, listening to the voices of David, Grissom and Brass. He had all ready seen what type of crime this was; but he was not surprised that his older co-workers didn't see it. A line had been playing in his head from the moment he saw the bodies; _'Homophobia, the worst disease. You can't love who you want to love in times like these.'_ Over and over those familiar words went, making him clench his jaw and feel his eyes tear up. He knew he would certainly hate this case, it was way up on his top-ten-hate-list all ready, only topped by the abduction of Nick and his own beating.

He looked at his older friends, wondering if they would figure this out by themselves. When that possibility looked slim; he knew he had to say something. Him talking versus staying quiet could make the difference between solved and unsolved case; especially if it meant they would start in the wrong direction. He walked back towards the bodies; trying hard not to look at them.

"Eh… I don't know how to say this, but I don't think the men are brothers. I think they are married; that's why they have the same last name. And I assume that the children are their children; thus making this into a hate-crime, maybe…"

The ex-tech's voice went quieter, trailing of at the end, as he could feel the others eyes on him. He was a very confident person, but having two men and a woman, twice his age, looking intently on him, made him feel like a kid again. Grissom was the first to respond.

"What makes you think that Greg?"

The Californian swallowed a few times before he talked. He could see that Nick had returned too now, looking at him with a small sad smile.

"Well. What stroked me first; was the way the bodies are positioned. I think that the men were alive when the perp's left, left here to die. You can see how their eyes are locked and their hands are reaching for each other."

He looked at his co-workers, having their full attention.

"My guess is that the children were killed first; just imagine the torment on those poor men having to see their kids being killed. You can see trails of tears on their cheeks, so that kinda back that up. And then when they felt their life run out, they tried to comfort one another; like any lovers would do."

He locked eyes with Nick, trying to get some strength from the Texan, whom in his mind, was the strongest man he knew.

"Further, it's the intensity of the attack. How they have been tortured and beaten and left to die a slow death; it kinda makes me think that there are some powerful feelings behind the crime; like hate. But, yeah well, that's just my thoughts."

After finishing Greg started shifting on the spot. Feeling a little uneasy from the scrutinising eying from his co-workers. Only Nick's eyes revealed trust and pride. The other three looked rather stern actually; he wasn't sure if they believed him or not.

After what felt like an eternity (for Greg), Catherine and Grissom looked closer at the bodies and threw glances at each other. They both started to get the feeling that the youngest CSI was right in his assumptions. Catherine was the first to speak.

"I think you may be right Greg. The type of wounds and the ferocity in the killings sure resembles a hate-crime. Look at this Griss; the stab here; it's different from that other one. I think there's more than one perp."

The red-head had closed in on the brunet body; looking at the wounds on his chest. When Grissom went over to look, Greg felt himself release his breath. He was happy they believed him, even though this whole ordeal made him sad.

The young CSI looked at Nick; he desperately needed some support and strength now. The two men locked eyes, speaking without words. The Texan wanted to give the younger man a hug, but this was neither the time nor place, so he settled with supporting his boyfriend from a distance. He knew this case would be hard on both of them, and hoped the perp's would be caught soon. The two men gave each other a small smile, eyes filled with love, before returning to their tasks.

--

Greg felt like he was covered in garbage by now. There were two big dumpsters in the alley, belonging to the restaurant beside. They were the ones who had found the bodies; a poor buss-boy had gone out to throw some garbage-bags when he had literally stumbled over them. The door to the restaurant was the only one in the alley, and there were no surveillance-cameras here; there had never been any need for that.

Nick was done processing the perimeter up to the street and was now fetching the surveillance-tapes from the front of the restaurant and the shops on the other side of the alley.

'_One done; one to go.'_ The Californian tried to pep himself up while climbing out of the first dumpster. When he opened the other one, he cursed himself for not looking in there before he started. 'Cause there, in plain sight, on top of the garbage-bags were one t-shirt and one short-sleeved button-up shirt, the latter wrapped around something.

The level 2 carefully bagged the t-shirt before lifting the shirt up. He unfolded it and revealed a 6 inch long jagged-bladed hunting knife. He bagged the knife and shirt separately, before climbing into the dumpster.

Thirty minutes later he could state that there was no more evidence in the dumpster, it only contained a couple of garbage-bags filled with food from the restaurant; he was never going to eat there again; ever.

Greg got out of the dumpster, grabbed the evidence-bags and started walking towards the street. He placed the evidence in the back of the Denali he and Nick had drove to the scene, and removed the overall he was wearing. He badly needed a shower and hoped the Texan would hurry up.

Just as that thought left him, his boyfriend came out from the adjoining shop, having retrieved all the surveillance-tapes. He placed it with the other evidence and closed the hood.

"You okay Greggo? Found anything?"

"I'm cool, don't worry. Oh, and I found the knife, and some clothes. Bagged and tagged! Hopefully it's actually from our crime."

"Great work G. Let's get back to the lab, I think you could use with a shower. You kinda smell, babe."

The smirk on Nick's face was wide, while he looked around to see if anyone had noticed the endearment.

"Hahaha. Aren't you a funny guy? Totally laughing my ass out here."

The two men continued their loving bicker until they were safely inside the car. The Texan glanced at the younger man all the way to the lab; he knew this case was getting to him, just like it was getting to himself. When he stopped at a red light, he leaned over and kissed Greg lightly on the lips, he joined their hands together and caressed the Californians hand until they were outside their work place. He parked the car, and turned to face his lover before getting out.

"It's okay to be affected by cases babe. I am for sure affected by this. I think you and I saw the truth when we entered the alley, and this case will get to us. Just remember one thing; I'm here for you babe. Talk to me, don't shut me out."

Greg leaned into the older mans warm embrace.

"I promise, I won't shut you out. I hate this case all ready, and we haven't even started yet. Those poor children; killed because their parents were gay. I can't believe it; how cruel the world can be."

"They weren't killed because they had two dads, hun. They were killed because there are people out there who are scared of what they don't get; of things that are different. Angry people, hating everyone different from themselves."

"Yeah, I guess. I still can't believe it though. It's just too fucked up."

"I know baby, I know."

Nick hardened his grip on the man he loved and kissed him deeply before removing his hands. They kept their foreheads together a while longer, then with one last kiss they exited the car and brought the evidence into the lab.

A/N: Hope you like so far! Reviews are most welcomed! The song on Greg's mind is Homophobia by Chumbawamba.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Greg felt a lot better coming out of the shower. He'd gotten most of the smell out of his hair and body, and was now dressed in clean clothes. He went out to the lab, searching for his co-workers. He walked past the DNA-lab, a little surprised to find it empty. _'Hmm, wonder were Wendy is?'_ He saw Nick working in one of the layout rooms, and started to approach it, when Grissom intercepted him.

"There you are, good. I need a favour Greg."

The ex-tech looked quizzically at his boss. "Sure Griss, what's up?"

"Wendy just called in sick. And I haven't been able to get a replacement yet. Could you process our evidence? Don't mind the backlog, leave that for the day-tech, I just don't want our case to get slowed down because Wendy's out."

"No problem boss. I'll get right to it."

"Thanks Greg, I'll be in the morgue. Doc paged me; they've just started the autopsies. Catherine is all ready there."

Nick had come into the hall when he heard what Grissom had to say. Now he looked at his boyfriend with that, 'I'm sorry'-look. Greg just shrugged his shoulders and gave the Texan a small smile before turning back towards his old lab.

The Californian didn't mind working in the lab from time to time; he enjoyed being able to keep his skills up to date. When he started working on the knife he felt that he was able to forget the terrible crime for a while, his mind easing up with the familiar work.

--

Grissom entered the morgue and walked to the room where Catherine and Doc were standing between the four victims. They both looked up and greeted the CSI.

"Hi Gil. I'm just about to start now. I've sent reference-samples to DNA, and samples of their blood and urine to Tox. Common for both men; they were restrained; probably by some type of rope. I've taken pictures of the marks, they're on the computer. They were also gagged, I found some fabric in their mouths; sent those to Trace. So, let's begin with this gentleman here, shall we?"

The supervisor moved closer to the table and looked down on the blond man. He nodded and Doc started.

"I'm counting one, two, three… eleven stab-wounds. Some of these are very shallow, but three of them are deep. One has punctured his left lung, the one in his stomach has for sure done a lot of damage; you can see the intestines have been hit. And this wound on his right side has punctured his liver. All of these wounds could have been treatable had he been found in time. I'm estimating that it took approximately ten minutes before he died, cause of death being that he bled out. He could have made it, hadn't his liver been hit; lot of blood in the liver."

"What a way to go." Catherine was looking down on the man, emotions clear in her eyes. "Do you think he was conscious long?"

"I don't think so; but for some minutes yes, until the pain and the difficulties with breathing overtook him. This is a terrible way to die; it takes so long."

They walked over to the next table, containing the other man. When they got there; Catherine stopped the others.

"Wait a minute guys." She bent down closer over the man. "I didn't see it before now. Look at this; it looks like blood-spatter, can you see it? Those drops there. Give me the camera and some swabs Doc, I'll take samples on both men. I don't think all the blood is their own."

The coroner handed the red-head the camera and some swabs and she quickly took pictures and samples from different parts of the brunet's upper body. When she was done, she walked back and did the same on the other man.

"Okay. Victim number two has one, two, three… also eleven stab-wounds. Looking at it now; do you see something striking Gil?"

Grissom looked at the body below him, and then he looked back at the blond.

"The wounds are almost identical; it's like copy-stabs."

"My sentiments exactly. The wounds on this man are the same as on the other man. Three fatal; in the left lung, the intestines and the liver. This man also died from loss of blood."

They went on to the last two tables.

"The girl is about four or five years old. There are some marks around her mouth; a hand-print from the looks of it. The hand is quite small, and there are nail-marks on her cheek, indicating long finger-nails."

Grissom looked at him in shock. "Are you saying a woman was in on this?"

"Well, some men have small hands and long nails, and that's all I'm saying. Further, the girl's throat has been slit. The wound is even, indicating a fluid motion; she was killed with one stroke. The cut is deep; it has penetrated her trachea and esophagus; causing her death immediately."

Doc moved to the last table. "The boy is about two years old. No marks on his body what so ever, except for the stab-wound to his chest. The stab goes from left to right; through his left lung and into the left ventricle chamber. The stab would have made his heart stop beating within seconds."

"Well that's a small comfort." Grissom looked disgusted; everybody knew he hated cases with child-victims. "At least the children died fast, even if their parents were tortured."

"A very, very small comfort."

The three co-workers looked at each other, knowing this would be a case they would never forget.

--

When Grissom and Catherine returned to the lab, they found Nick and Greg sitting in the evidence-room, looking at the pictures and the victim's clothes.

"Hey Greg, you done in DNA? I've got some other samples for you, if you don't mind." Catherine held up the bag with swabs.

"Yeah, I'm done processing the knife. I found blood from all of our four victim's on it, and three unknown donors; two men and one woman. The blood from the unknowns was all near the handle. I ran it through CODIS; no match, and they aren't related to each other. But; the female unknown have seven alleles in common with the little girl; so she could be the biological mother. We should find out how the couple got their kids."

Just then Brass came into the room.

"We might be able to find that out soon. I've talked to the sister of Steven Knox-Johnson, she lives in Pasadena; she's coming to ID the victims. She told me that the girl's named Alicia; five years old, the boy would have turned three next month; his name was Elijah. So, who wants to meet the sister with me?"

"I will." Catherine looked at the men with eyes saying this was un-discussable. The other CSI's just nodded. _'What Willows wants; she gets.'_ Greg thought as he exited the room, going to the lab to process the last samples.

"Okay Catherine; I'll page you when she's in. She should be here in about two hours."

After Brass left, Catherine, Grissom and Nick turned back to the table to look over the evidence, when the Texans pager went of.

"I'll be in the A/V-lab; Archie's found something on the surveillance-tapes."

--

Four hours later the team assembled in the break-room. The shift was over, but none of them wanted to go home. This was a case they wanted to solve quickly, so they all quietly agreed to work overtime.

"Okay. Let's go through what we've got so far."

Grissom sat at the end of the table, looking intently at his co-workers. Greg was the first to speak.

"In addition to what I said before; the samples I got from Catherine are done. There's blood from Graham on Steven and vice versa. No more new from DNA. Hodges found that the fibres from the vic's mouths was silk; dyed red. It may be from a scarf or something like that. And the results from Tox came back negative for anything; no alcohol and no types of sedatives."

The older CSI's looked at the Californian with confused eyes. Catherine spoke for them all.

"How is that possible? Why haven't anyone heard anything? I mean, they'd had to scream or something."

Greg just shrugged his shoulders.

"No idea. Those are the results. Hey Nick; anything on the tapes?"

The Texan looked at his boyfriend and nodded, while picking the remote up.

"Yeah. Archie's made this." He pushed play; on the TV you could see the family walking on the sidewalk. The children had a balloon each in their hands; showing that they had bean to McDonalds sometimes before this. "Now here you see them next to the alley; see how the men react? It's clear that something or someone has gotten their attention. And see now; they enter the alley of their free will. See the time?" The clock in the down-left corner said 6.27 pm.

"Now nothing happens until 7.08. That's when three men and one woman exit the alley. Though the tapes are in black and white; it doesn't seem like they have blood on them. But see the man closest to the camera; he's carrying a bag. My guess is it's filled with towels and bloody clothes. Archie managed to zoom in on the bag; it says Mario's Gym on the side. And that's a membership-bag, you can't get it if you're not a member. We can't get a clear shot of any of their faces, but they're all Caucasian. The woman is 5'4. The man nearest the camera is 5'5, the next is 6'2 and the last man is 6'."

The team looked at the video once more, discussing what could have gotten the men's attention and why they would go into the alley and bring the kids with them. When they ran out of ideas Grissom continued the round.

"What did the sister have to say Cath?"

"Well, she ID'ed the victims, she couldn't understand how this could happen. Both men were very well liked. Steven was a teacher in high school, and Graham was an ambulance-driver. They met in college; had been together for twelve years, married for seven years. She couldn't think of anyone hating them enough to do something like this. The children were conceived with a surrogate-mother, with the use of an anonymous egg-donor. They got the eggs through an organisation called Creative Conception Inc. They used different donors, someone resembling the not-biological father. Brass is getting a court-order to get the name of the donors."

"And here it is." Brass came through the door, holding a piece of paper in the air.

"Good. Okay. Catherine, you go with Brass. Nick, get the picture to Mario; I don't care if you have to wake him up, but you make him look at the picture. He might recognize some of the perp's. Greg; you're with me. We're going to the Tropicana. The victims stayed there; we'll see if we can find something there."

Grissom's co-workers nodded and stood up; anxious to find the clue that would get them one step closer to solving the case.

A/N: Thanks for your reviews! Next chapter will come tomorrow (I hope).


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews! Since I was asked so nicely; here's the next chapter! Last chapter will be posted tomorrow!

**Chapter 3**

Greg followed Grissom out to the car; he liked working with the supervisor; after Nick (and Sara) he was his favourite co-worker. Even though he still felt a little intimidated by him, he was always able to learn something new from the entomologist. The ride to the hotel was quiet; both men were thinking about the case. When they got nearer to the Tropicana, Grissom looked at his young subordinate.

"Are you okay Greg? You've been quieter than usual."

"I'm fine Griss. No problem. Just thinking about the case, that's all."

"Yeah, it's a really bad one. It's affecting all of us, but I guess you and Nick are getting it worse than the rest of us. You sure you can handle it?"

"I'm sure. Don't worry about me. I need to see this one true, don't take me off it."

"I'm not taking you off Greg. We're understaffed as it is. With both Warrick and Sara gone, we need all the men we have. Just… take a break if it gets too bad, okay?"

"Yeah, sure boss. Don't worry. I'll be fine."

They pulled up in front of the hotel, and went up to room 705. This was not Greg's favourite task when it came to working as a CSI. Going through other peoples stuff made him feel like he was invading their privacy. He knew they were dead; but that didn't make that much of a difference. He had discussed this with Nick multiple times; his boyfriend never seemed to get him on this point. The Texan meant that anything that could help to solve the case was worth investigating. It wasn't like Greg disagreed with him; but he still didn't like it.

The room was neat. All the clothes were in the closets, and the toiletries were in the bags. It looked like the family had tried their best to make the sterile hotel-room as comfy as possible. There was a lap-top on the desk. Greg bagged it to take it to Archie later.

On the side of the bed, there was a bag. It contained pictures, passports, some drawings made by the children and some letters. Two of the letters were from family-members, but the last one could hold some significance. It was still in the envelope; there was no address on it, just the room-number. Grissom bagged the envelope and opened the letter.

"_You're sinners, and don't deserve to have children. You will burn in hell for what you do, and the kids are better of dead, then having to live with you."_

The two CSI's looked at each other. This was a major piece of evidence. They quickly processed the rest of the room without finding anything more. When they were done they returned to the lab.

--

When they arrived, Greg went over to the A/V-lab, dropping off the lap-top to Archie.

"Beep me if you find something. I'll be in the layout room."

The Asian nodded, and Greg went in search for Grissom. He found him with Nick in the third layout room. Nick was just telling what he had found out.

"Mario looked at the picture at last; I almost had to drag him out of the bed. After some threats about searching the gym for illegal steroids, he finally started talking. He thought he recognized two of the men. The man carrying the bag, he thinks is called Nathan; he works out every day from 1 to 4 pm. The tallest man might be a man called Shane. He's not that regular, but comes in with Nathan from time to time."

"Good work Nick. I'll notify Brass. Someone has to be at that gym at 1 pm today."

"I'll go." The Texan looked at his superior. "Don't want the cops handling that bag."

"Okay. You can go with them. Is Catherine back yet? We should go through what we've got."

"Right here Gil. And I've got a name!"

The woman in question came strolling into the room, Brass at her heals. She looked very satisfied; like she had cracked the case all ready.

"The woman who donated the egg for Alicia is named Harriet Barker. She lives on the west side, but is currently sitting in interview room number one. We picked her up on our way back. I've even got her DNA, 'cause she spit on Jim when he hauled her out of the apartment."

Grissom looked at her, very happy with the way things were going on this case.

"Good, nice job. So we've ID'ed three out of four now."

Brass looked at his old friend.

"You've ID'ed two of the guys? Let's pick them up."

"Yeah Nick got a hit from the picture. One of the men work out at the gym every day from 1 pm. Nicky's coming with you to handle the evidence."

"Sounds good to me. Let's leave the woman sweating for a while until we've managed to pick up the boys. See who cracks first; who wants a deal most?"

The CSI's nodded at the detective and sat down to go through the evidence; they wanted the case to be air-tight. Greg processed the DNA sample, confirming that it was the woman's blood on the knife. The case looked better and better; something that pleased the investigators. They wanted it to be over as soon as possible.

--

Greg was standing in the hall outside the interrogation rooms; looking at the woman and two men sitting inside. It was 1.30 pm; normally he would be asleep now; snuggled up against Nick, his head on the Texans broad chest. In a couple of hours they would wake up and make lazy love. How he wished this could have been a normal day; instead he was standing here watching the suspects sitting alone, waiting for Brass or whoever it would be that was doing the interview.

The ex-tech turned around when he heard footsteps closing in on him. Grissom and Brass was approaching.

"Hi Greg. Are the samples done yet?"

No one like Grissom to cut right to the chase.

"Not yet, the machine is working. I'll go and check. Are you doing the interviews?"

Brass nodded. "Yep. Just waiting for the results to come in. We want as much evidence as we can have, before talking to the bastards."

"Yeah, sure, totally understandable. I'll go right now, it should be done soon."

Greg turned around and walked back to his old lab. The day-tech was in there, but he had made sure to process their evidence himself. Didn't want to risk anything compromising the chain of custody, even though he knew the other tech was more than capable.

"Hi Jess. Are my samples done yet?"

The day-tech smiled and handed him a sheet of paper. "Fresh from the printer. Looks like you've got your guys."

The Californian grinned back. "Thanks man, this is great."

He quickly made his way back to the interrogation rooms, where the whole team had gathered by now. His grin was evident and they all let out a sigh.

"We've got them! The two unknown samples on the knife came back a hit for both Shane Leary and Nathan Black. Now all we need is the final perp. To bad we've got no DNA-evidence for him."

Brass looked at the CSI level two, and his face got a very determent expression.

"Good work Sanders. Let's divide up, and talk to them all at once, they have all declined representation, so no need to wait any longer. Catherine and Nick; you take the woman. Gil; you take Shane with detective Harris, and Greg you're with me, we'll take Nathan. Sounds okay?"

The CSI's nodded and walked to the different rooms. Brass turned against the youngest member.

"You okay kid? Think you can handle this?"

"No problem. I can handle it."

Brass nodded again, opened the door leading in to the interrogation room, and walked inside; Greg followed him swiftly. Nathan Black was sitting on one side of the table. He looked nervous, shifting and drying his hands on his jeans. He looked up at the men that sat down in front of him. Neither man was saying anything.

Greg looked at the suspect sitting before him. He rejoiced the fact that he looked nervous, almost as if he would pee himself any minute now. Brass wasn't saying anything, and neither would he. The detective and the CSI just continued to look at the possible (probable) perp. Black was looking at them both, folding and unfolding his hands in front of him. His nerves sky-rocketing the longer time went with nothing said. He couldn't stand looking at them anymore and found a point on the table that suddenly became very interesting. When Brass finally talked, he jumped.

"So… Mr. Black. What have you been up to lately?"

Nathan Black looked at the detective with fright in his eyes.

"Nnnnn… Nnnothing. What is going on? Why am I here?"

Sweat was pouring down his forehead. Brass looked mighty pleased with himself.

"Oh, I think you know exactly why you're here. We know, you know. We... Know... Everything."

The man looked about ready to faint.

"You do?"

"Oh yeah, you better believe it boy. And don't expect your friends to help you; they're sitting right next to us. We got you all."

Greg was sitting quietly, intrigued by the detectives play with the perp. Brass was a great detective; he was sure he could trick the young and naïve man into spilling it all.

"All? I know Shane is here, since he was taken with me. But you got Harriet and Frank too?"

"Sure do! So it's up to you now. 'Cause we've got more than enough evidence to get the death penalty for all of you. Talking can mean the difference between death and lifetime in jail. So what do you want?"

Nathan Black was crying now. The harsh reality dawning on him.

"I didn't mean it; I didn't want to do it. It was Shane's idea. All of it was his idea."

"Really? 'Cause he's blaming you for this whole ordeal."

"No, no, no, no. Please you gotta believe me. It wasn't my idea, I didn't want for it to happen."

"I do kind of believe you. You don't seem smart enough to pull anything like this off. So tell me your story then."

"A couple of days ago me, Shane and Frank…"

"Shane Leary right?"

"Yeah, and Frank Jackson. We were sitting in my apartment when Harriet came in. She said she had seen the most repulsing sight…"

--

Catherine and Nick were looking at the woman sitting before them. She had light brown hair and brown eyes. She was small and tired-looking, but if they looked very hard, they could see some resemblance to Alicia. She was holding a small silver cross between her fingers, playing with it.

"Hi Harriet. How are you?"

Catherine tried to look at the woman with a kind and curious look, but it was hard when all she could see was a woman who had participated in the slaughter of an entire family.

"Why am I here? I haven't done anything wrong. The Lord is my Shepard, and he is the only one who can judge me."

The CSI's looked at each other. They were both thinking the same thing; _'Great, a nut-case.'_

"Well, unfortunately for you. In the state of Nevada, there will be consequences if you participate in a criminal act. No matter what God says."

Nick was looking at the woman with stern eyes. _'Is this really one of those? Who believe they do an act of God by killing off gays? Damn, I hate this woman all ready.'_

"You can't touch me. I've got God on my side. I've done nothing wrong."

"Really? So killing innocent children are okay with you and God then? To my knowledge the Bible says 'Thou shall not kill.' You really think God is happy with you right now?"

Ms. Barker looked at the female CSI with almost black eyes.

"The children were damaged, and nothing could have saved them. The faggott's had made sure of that. They were better off dead."

Catherine could feel the anger boiling in her, this woman made her sick. She needed to take her down, make her feel something.

"Some years ago you donated some eggs right?"

Harriet looked baffled by the question.

"Yeah, so what. I needed the money. No wrong in selling something I didn't need, and produce more of every month."

"Sure not. But you know; a little perk about doing everything anonymously; you don't know where it ends up. One of your eggs ended up as a little girl named Alicia. The little girl you brutally murdered. How you think about that?"

The suspect faltered for the first time that night.

"Www… What? What are you talking about?"

"That girl, whose throat you slit; biologically she was your daughter. That's how we found you. Your DNA and her DNA had something in common. What a freak coincidence, eh?"

"That's not true. You're lying you little bitch. You're lying!"

Catherine was feeling a little better, finally some emotions.

"I aint lying. It's all here. The DNA never lies. We'll take a brake, we'll be right back"

The brunet female broke down in tears, howling for God to hear her. Nick and Catherine exited the room; letting the information sink into the woman.

--

Grissom and detective Harris walked into the room; Shane Leary was pacing back and forth. When the men entered he pierced them with his eyes.

"You can't hold me here. It's against the law. I've done nothing."

The CSI and detective sat down at the table and looked at each other. Grissom turned his eyes against the suspect.

"You don't know everything about the law then; we can detain you for 48 hours without reason. But believe me, you will be charged before that."

"Charged with what? I haven't done anything."

"Really? Hold out your hands please."

Leary looked at the CSI with a grim look, before holding out his hands. Grissom turned them over; a cut was visible in the nook between the thumb and the index finger.

"Hard to hold a knife steady without cutting yourself, isn't it?"

"It's from cutting up a steak."

Detective Harris gave out a chuckle.

"Yeah, right. Like we believe that you eat steak on a regular basis. You have no job, no income. Where do you get the money to buy meat from?"

Shane Leary blushed red from fury, the anger evident in his ice-blue eyes.

"What the fuck does it matter to you where I get money from. Maybe I borrowed it from a friend."

"Or maybe you got the cut from somewhere else."

Grissom was locking eyes with the suspect. Piercing blue meeting ice-cold blue.

"Like where?"

"Well, it's quite a coincidence that you have a cut on your hand, and we've found your blood on the knife that killed four people this night. Doesn't sound like a coincidence to me. What do you think Harris?"

"Nope. Sounds more like hard evidence to me."

Leary started pacing again. His body was rigid and his movements hard.

"I want a lawyer."

Grissom and Harris nodded towards each other; they had him now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Continue."

Brass was looking at the sad excuse of a man sitting in front of him. Nathan Black had broken down totally now. He was sobbing while trying to tell his story.

"Harriet had left a letter to the men, saying they were sinners and stuff. She's very Christian you see, believes in everything the bible and the minister of her church say. Now I'm no Christian, but it's not natural you know. So we talked about them that night. We drank quite a lot, and smoked some weed too. I don't remember how, but suddenly Shane had this whole plan laid out; 'bout how we could take these guys down."

"And you never questioned the plan? You went out and participated in the killing of four people without questioning it?"

Greg was looking at the man in disbelief. Was it really possible for someone to be so dense?

"No, no, no. Not killing. Shane said we were only going to scare them, and beat them up a little. I never wanted to kill them."

"So what happened then? 'Cause now we've got four very dead bodies down at the morgue. What went wrong?"

"Harriet was kinda following them at the hotel, she works there you see. Yesterday she talked to them and found out they were going to McDonalds. So Shane decided to do it in an alley on the way back to the hotel. It's the shortest route, so we guessed they would walk that way. The alley has a turn you know, so you can't see the end from the Strip."

"So how did you lure them in to the alley?"

Brass didn't like this man at all. The type of men that never thought for themselves, just followed and did as told; he despised them.

"When they walked past, Harriet screamed, and it was suppose to look like she was being mugged by Shane, she ran towards the end and Shane followed her. The fags ran after them, trying to get Shane off of her. Then I grabbed one man, Frank grabbed the other, Harriett took the girl and Shane the boy. That's when all got out of control."

"Me and Frank gagged and restrained the men, and then Shane took out a knife. I didn't even know he'd brought the fucking knife. And he looked at the men and said that they'd ruined the kids, they were damaged, and could never be saved. And then he just stabbed the kid. I never wanted that to happen. The kids hadn't done anything. I'm so sorry."

Black was crying now; loud sobs escaped his mouth between the words. Brass and Greg could see that the man was sincere. He hadn't known about the killing on forehand. They quietly nudged him to continue.

"I tried to stop him, I tried to take the knife away from him, but instead he gave it to Harriet. And then she slit the throat of that little girl. She looked so scared. And the men were devastated. They were crying hard, not believing what they saw. When both kids were dead, it was like the fags gave up. Shane and Frank could beat them as much as they liked, but not a sound came from them. They just looked at each other, with hazy eyes."

Greg felt like he was going to faint and he desperately needed to puke. To hear this story; a story of hate was more than he could take. He had to muster all his strength to keep himself seated.

"Then Shane and Harriet started a sick game of slashing the men; taking one stab each. I think they were alive when we left, I don't know. Shane gave me the knife, told me to toss it away. So I did; together with their shirts. Even cut myself at the same time. Shane and Harriet took some towels from my bag and dried off the blood. They even had a change of clothes with them."

Brass was looking intently at the suspect.

"So you're trying to tell me that you didn't know anything? And you did nothing? You didn't participate in the beating or the killing?"

"I didn't. I swear. All I did was to restrain and gag one of the men. I had no idea it would turn out like this, no idea. I didn't mean for all of this to happen. I really didn't."

"Then why didn't you try to stop them. Or get help?"

"I couldn't do that; they're my friends."

Brass looked disbelievingly at the man. He just shook his head.

"Fuck this is sick. I need a break."

Greg followed the detective out of the interrogation room, his head buzzing with words of hate and malice. He could barely hear Brass give out an order about picking up Frank Jackson. He sat down at the bench in the hall, not trusting his legs to keep him up. He could see that his hands were shaking; like they always did when he was stressed out. He was looking straight ahead, without actually seeing anything. A movement was registered in his brain; someone was sitting next to him. He turned his gaze and looked into the eyes of his supervisor. Grissom was looking at him with worry-lines around his eyes.

"Are you okay Greg? I heard Brass say you've got a full confession."

Greg could hear the voice, and he should probably answer, but he couldn't remember how to make words. He opened his mouth; but not a sound came out. Grissom's frown deepened.

"That's it. You're going home. This case is wrapped out. There's not much left to do now. I'm calling you a cab, there's no way you're driving in this state."

Greg thought he could remember something about driving with Nick, and no car, or something, but everything was gone when his boss softly pulled him up. He stumbled his way to his locker, retrieving his keys and wallet, and was guided out into the waiting cab. Grissom even paid the driver, who assured him he would see to that the ex-tech got inside his home.

He had no idea how; but suddenly Greg found himself sitting on the couch. He couldn't remember the drive home, or walking to the house, or sitting down. But as soon as his brain registered where he was; it let go. Tears started falling from his eyes.

--

After getting the name from Nathan Black, the police were soon able to find Frank Jackson. He was, like Black, not particularly willing to go to jail for murder, when all he'd do was beat up the fags a little as he said. Being a tiny bit smarter than his friend he had lawyer'ed up, and after her advice had given a full confession, admitting that he had beaten the men, but he had not killed anyone.

Harriet had at first broken down totally after hearing that Alicia was her biological daughter. Then she had started blaming herself for everything; since she had given the egg away. She finally regretted killing the girl, but seemed to be proud when she talked about stabbing the men.

"They deserved it for corrupting my baby."

Catherine looked at her, fury in her eyes.

"Alicia was not your baby. She was the daughter of Steven and Graham Knox-Johnson. And I think five years with them was much better for her than a lifetime with you."

She waved at detective Brass who was walking past, and he came in and read her her rights.

"Harriet Barker; you're under arrest for the murder of Alicia Knox-Johnson, Graham Knox-Johnson and Steven Knox-Johnson. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you."

Brass looked at the woman and dragged her out with him, handing her over to a female police-officer outside the room. Through the window he could see detective Harris reading the Miranda-rights to Shane Leary. Grissom was standing at the back-wall, weary-looking.

Grissom and detective Harris met up with Brass, Nick and Catherine in the hall. With all the suspects in custody, two confessions and enough evidence to put them all away for a long time, and probably give the death-penalty to two of them, the team was glad to be finished. Nick hardly listened to the conversation going on around him. His eyes were looking for his boyfriend, but he couldn't see him anywhere. Grissom noticed the tired look in Nick's eyes; it was in all the team member's eyes. But he knew this case had been hardest on the two youngest members of his team.

"Are you okay Nick? It's been a tough case."

"I'm fine Griss. Just tired. Have you seen Greg lately?"

"Yeah. I put him in a cab about an hour ago, sent him home. You should leave too. This case is wrapped, nothing more left to do here now. Tell you what. Take two nights off, and tell Greg he's off too. Take some care of yourself for a change."

The Texan nodded and thanked the supervisor, said good bye to his co-workers and headed towards the locker room. After changing his clothes, he picked up the keys to his truck and went home.

--

The house was dark when he entered; all the blackout curtains were closed. He toed off his shoes, hang his jacket on the hook and put his keys on the entryway table. A shuffled noise from the living room made him look up. He entered the room; the only light was coming from the kitchen. He could see a figure sitting on the couch. Greg had his knees pressed against his chest; his head was propped on top of his kneecaps. Nick could see that the ex-tech was crying, his whole body was shaking.

He walked up and sat down besides the younger man, putting his hand on his shoulder. He could feel the other tense, but started to pull him closer. Greg complied and soon his chin was resting against the older mans chest.

"Shh, it's okay G. I know… It's okay, sweetie… I love you."

The sun was high in the sky outside, but the two men didn't move. Inside the walls of their home, they felt safe and loved. They knew that their love wasn't approved by everybody, but they didn't care. They had found love, and were not willing to let it go, no matter what other people thought.

**The End**

A/N: Hope you liked it! More Nick/Greg-stories will come!


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